ture alone. Some suppose them to be simple monuments erected over some distinguished chieftain. Others suppose them to be the cemeteries for a family, or a village, or a tribe; and others, that they mark the sites of great battles, and contain the bones of the slain. Mr. Jefferson, in his Notes on Virginia, describes the contents of a mound which he opened, and gives it as his opinion, that it had derived both origin and growth from the collection and deposition of bones, which the Indians were accustomed to make. He thinks the first collection was deposited on the surface of the ground, a few stones put over it, and then a covering of earth; that the second was laid on this, and also covered with earth; and that thus, by successive accumulations of bones and of earth, the mounds were increased to their present dimensions. He thinks the one he opened might contain a thousand skeletons.

Messrs. Squier and Davis opened upwards of one hundred mounds, and they have satisfactorily ascertained that they are of different classes, and designed for different purposes. The conditions on which the classification is founded, are position, form, structure, and contents. The classes are four: altar or sacrificial mounds, sepulchral mounds, temple mounds, and anomalous mounds.

The most of those examined proved to be Altar mounds, or mounds of sacrifice. The general characteristics of this class are: 1. That they are stratified. 2. That they occur only in the immediate vicinity of the regular enclosures. 3. That they contain symmetrical altars of burned clay or stone, on which are deposited various remains, which, in all cases, have been more or less subjected to the action of fire. The stratification is not horizontal, but conforms to the convex outline of the mound. It does not resemble the stratification produced by the action of water, in which the layers run into each other, but is defined with the utmost distinctness, and always ends on reaching the level of the surrounding earth.

The altars are symmetrical, but not of uniform size and shape. Some are round, others elliptical, and others square. The usual dimensions are from five to eight feet across; but some are fifty feet long, and twelve or fifteen wide. They are modelled of fine clay, generally brought to the spot from a distance. They rest on the original surface of the ground. Sometimes, however, a small layer of sand was placed on the ground, and the altar built on it. The clay composing the altar is usually burned hard.

On the banks of the Scioto River, near Chillicothe, is an enclosure, in the form of a square, with rounded angles, including about thirteen acres, and containing twenty-four mounds. All these were excavated, and their contents examined. The first one opened was

seven feet high, and fifty-five in circumference. A shaft, five feet square, was sunk from the top, with the following results: 1. A layer of coarse gravel and pebbles, taken from the bank of the river. 2. A homogeneous mass of earth. 3. A thin layer of fine sand. 4. A deposit of common soil. 5. Another layer of sand. 6. Another deposit of earth. 7. A third layer of sand. 8. Still another earthy deposit. 9. An altar, or basin, of burned clay, perfectly round, and containing ashes mixed with fragments of pottery, of an excellent finish, and ornamented with tasteful carvings on the outside. The second mound was formed by similar layers of earth, and covered an altar, which was a perfect parallelogram, and which contained ashes mixed with pottery, and a few shell and pearl beads. The following diagram exhibits a section of this mound as opened.

The third mound was formed by similar strata, and the altar contained ashes, charcoal, and about thirty pounds of lead. The fourth contained an altar nearly fifty feet long, and burned to the depth of twenty-two inches. On examination, it appeared that several clay altars had been here erected, one above another, and all afterwards heaped over. The altar contained ashes, coal, pottery, and sundry implements of stone and copper. The altar in the fifth mound contained, among other relics, about two hundred pipes, on whose bowls are carved figures of animals, birds, and reptiles, all executed with fidelity to nature, and with great skill. Among the ashes in several of these altars were found indications of human remains-either fragments of calcined bones, or phosphate of lime, which is peculiar to bone. A horrid suspicion that these altars may have once smoked with human sacrifices forces itself on the mind.

Structures similar to these altars are sometimes found in the West, in the open ground, and are called by the people brick hearths." It would seem that places were prepared for sacrifice by a structure of clay on the surface of the earth, and that after being used for a time, and burned hard by frequent fires, most of them were heaped

over by mounds, but some remained uncovered. Why were they thus covered up with so much care, as is implied in erecting a stratified mound? We have read, of no ceremonies or customs in the superstitions of any people, to throw light on this question.

The Sepulchral mounds are very numerous. They are larger than the sacrificial, some of them being seventy feet high. They stand without the walls of enclosures, at considerable distance from them. They are not stratified in structure, nor do they contain any altars. These mounds invariably cover a skeleton, generally one only, though in rare instances more. The body, at the time of its interment, was enveloped in bark, or enclosed in a rude sarcophagus of wood, or in a chamber of stones rudely laid up. The dead were placed on the surface of the ground, and the earth heaped up over them. With the dead were deposited specimens of art, comprising ornaments, utensils, and weapons. The most numerous relics are personal ornaments, such as bracelets, perforated plates of copper, and beads of bone, ivory, shell, or metal.

Most of the mounds opened by Squier and Davis, both of the sepulchral and the sacrificial class, contained near the surface skeletons of modern Indians. It is a fact well known, that the tribes inhabiting the country in modern times know nothing of the origin or purpose of the mounds; yet they regard them with superstitious veneration. They frequently buried their dead in them, it being their invariable custom to select lofty points for the graves of their friends. Some mounds appear to have been long used as general cemeteries. But these burials are to be carefully distinguished from that of the more ancient distinguished personage for whom the mound was erected. The skeletons of the modern Indians are near the surface, in confused order, and accompanied by relics known to be of modern manufacture, being many of them of European origin. In the sacrificial or stratified mounds, whenever a modern interment has occurred, the strata appear disturbed and broken. So generally is this the case, that wherever Squier and Davis discovered indications of disturbed and broken strata, they expected to find modern skeletons, and were never disappointed. The process of the ancient burial was as follows: the surface of the ground was first carefully levelled and beat down, then covered with a layer of bark, on which, in the centre of the levelled area, the body was placed, with its accompanying relics, and then the mound was heaped over it. All the circumstances seem to indicate that burial was a solemn and deliberate rite, regulated by fixed customs of religious origin. The modern burial was conducted without order, and the bodies crowded into small and shallow graves in confusion.

We have said that the mounds are erected over a single skeleton. Our authors know of but one exception to this remark-the great mound at the mouth of Grave Creek, Virginia, twelve miles below Wheeling. This remarkable work, which measures about seventy

feet in height by one thousand in circumference at the base, was excavated by its proprietor in 1838.

"He sank a shaft from the apex of the mound to the base, (b a,) intersecting it at that point by a horizontal drift, (a e e.) It was found to contain two sepulchral chambers, one at the base, (a,) and another thirty feet above, (c.) These chambers had been constructed of logs, and covered with stones, which had sunk under the superincumbent mass as the wood decayed, giving the summit of the mound a flat or rather dish-shaped form. The lower chamber contained two human skeletons, (one of which was thought to be that of a female;) the upper chamber contained but one skeleton, in an advanced stage of decay. With these were found between three and four thousand shell beads, a number of ornaments of mica, several bracelets of copper, and various articles carved in stone. After the excavation of the mound, a light three-story wooden structure was erected upon its summit. It is indicated by b in the section.

"In respect to the number of sepulchral chambers and enclosed skeletons, this mound is quite extraordinary. It may be conjectured with some show of reason, that it contained the bones of the family of a chieftain, or distinguished individual, among the tribes of the builders."

Of all the monuments of the dead, the mound is the simplest, and seems to have been common to most peoples. A learned antiquarian, Gough, in his "Sepulchral Monuments of Great Britain," considers it the most ancient sepulchral monument in the world. Homer describes the burial of Patroclus as follows: the body was laid on a pile of wood, the pile set on fire, and all reduced to ashes. The fragments of the bones were then collected, placed in an urn, and a high hill heaped up over it.

Herodotus mentions the mound erected over the body of Alyattes, king of Lydia. It was a mile in circumference. Virgil alludes to

this mode of interment in Italy. Xenophon refers to it in Persia, and the Roman historians speak of it in more modern times. In Siberia, sepulchral mounds are raised so high, as to appear in the distant plains like a ridge of hills. In England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, they are numerously scattered over the country, having been erected by the ancient inhabitants. Some of these, as well as some in the West, are composed of earth brought from a distance. The custom of interring the dead with their personal arms and ornaments may be traced to the mythology of the nations of Northern Asia, who believed that they should appear in the future world with the ornaments deposited in their tombs. Accordingly we find these personal ornaments, in connexion with the remains of the dead, in the mounds of Europe and Asia, as well as in those of America.

The mounds of the West by no means contain the remains of all the people who once lived in these fertile valleys. They were erected only over the distinguished chiefs. The graves of the mass of the people were made on the hill-side, with no monument to mark the place. The plough of the western pioneer frequently turns up in its furrow the crumbling bones of the ancient proprietor of the field, and the washing waters disclose on the river's bank cemeteries strangely populous. So ancient are the remains found in the mounds, that scarcely any portion of the skeleton can be restored. Decay has done its work most effectually. Yet the circumstances of the position of the bodies, the compactness and dryness of the earth, and the protection of the mound, are exceedingly favourable to preservation. The decayed state of the remains must, therefore, be evidence of great antiquity. In the mounds of the ancient Britons, well-preserved skeletons, eighteen hundred years old, are found. Of what age, then, must those of the West be?

The Temple mounds are distinguished by their regularity of form, and their large dimensions. They are generally within the walls of enclosures. They are pyramidal in form. In some instances. they are terraced, or have successive stages. They generally have graded avenues to the top, which is always level, and frequently covers a large area. Squier and Davis found this class of mounds not numerous in Ohio. Near Chillicothe is one, known in the neighbourhood as the "elevated square." It is a truncated pyramid, one hundred and twenty feet square, and nine feet high. Being opened, it was found to contain no remains. Near it is a circle. At Marietta, within an enclosure of forty acres, are four elevated squares, or truncated pyramids, three of them having graded ways, or avenues, to the top. The larger pyramid is one hundred and